Here at British Taekwondo we have always said the sport is out of this World, and Phoenix Taekwondo club instructor Chris Pearson proved exactly that last month, after leading an evening of Poomsae at the European Space Agency [ESA].
For his day job, Chris works for RAL Space in the UK and the ESA, and used the opportunity to showcase the sport to 30+ enthusiastic attendees at the ESA’s Taekwondo club near Leiden in the Netherlands, with participants from across the continent.
The three-hour programme was split into two parts, and saw a session put on for all ages and abilities to begin, before a more advanced session focusing on higher Dan Grade Poomsae. The event was proof of the power of Taekwondo to bring together people from all across the World, and providing a pathway to breaking down barriers across countries and cultures.
While Chris [right] and his colleagues convened to discuss a mission set to be launched into the stratoshpere in the coming years, it wasn’t long before they were the stars of the show themselves, with plans in place to reciprocate the agreement in the future.
Chris said: “We had a big meeting for our mission consortium in the Netherlands, which just happened to be within driving distance of the European Space Agency HQ, so he invited me over to give a Poomsae seminar for the European Space Agency club.
“It came up very spontaneously, but from now on if we ever have a meeting in the UK he is going to come over, and if I’m ever back in the Netherlands I will be going to the ESA club.
“Being the European Space Agency, wherever you go there is an absolute multitude of nationalities, because it draws people from all the member countries.
“We had Dutch people, French people, Italians were there as well, and I am sure there were others that I didn’t notice.”
With nearly 40 years of Taekwondo experience under his belt, this isn’t the first time that Chris has displayed his abilities internationally with seven years of living in Japan, as well as regular visits to the in-laws in South Korea adding to his worldwide experience in the sport.
Over 80 million people participate in the sport across the globe, meaning Taekwondo offers a global language and a kinship that covers over 200 countries, and Chris’ experience proves just how valuable the sport can be in making relationships, to infinity, and beyond!
“It has been a major part of my life, and I have been doing Taekwondo for nearly 40 years, and where I am travelling around so much, it is great to find this thing in common with different countries and different people, and it breaks down barriers,” Chris continued.
“Even though cultures and languages are different, we can all count the same way in Korean, and we can all understand the same techniques as well.”
After starting up Phoenix Taekwondo Club back in 1996 alongside his twin brother, Chris has continued to grow the Didcot-based community, with over 200 members currently enrolled.
That experience of leading classes with members of all abilities has made its mark on an interesting career path, with the similarities between teaching scissor kicks and the solar system closer than you might imagine.
“Taekwondo is great for stress relief, certainly, and I am quite heavily involved in public outreach in my job, which means a lot of the media and also I am heavily involved in schools as well.
“When you do the workshops in schools, that is where the experience from teaching Taekwondo really helps, because you are used to class management, dealing with different people.
“The science nature obviously comes from my job, but having the confidence in public speaking and class management, that comes from Taekwondo.
“For decades I have been standing at the front of a class instructing and coaching to a wide range of ages, so you are used to adapting and interacting with children on a level where you can make things interesting, so it has really helped in that respect.
“It has also helped with how I deal with people in meetings as well, because I think you get a lot of people skills from Taekwondo, and that has helped me to be able to deal with a lot of personalities, because in science you get such a wide range of people.”
With over 200 countries participating in the sport, there is plenty of evidence that the Taekwondo community is alive and kicking in Great Britain, Europe and further afield, with communities and relationships building all the time.
As well as bringing people closer together, Chris’ experience also begs the question whether we will ever see the sport practiced further afield, with high hopes for an as-yet-undiscovered Poomsae Planet.
“You could do it in space, it would be awesome for flying kicks! You won’t have gravity pulling you down so you could do awesome flying sidekicks in space!”
Have you got a story like Chris? We want to hear from you! Get in touch with our Communication, Media and Member Relations Officer Adam Le Roux today at media@britishtaekwondo.org to share your news.
Leave A Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.